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Our information about German POW guards and camps is incomplete. The individual Wehrmacht sevices were theoretically responsible for POW camps. Both the Heer and the Luftwaffe set up POW camps. We are unsure about the Kriegsmsrine. There would have been very Allied POWs taken by the Kreigsmarine. A lot of American and British POWs were held in Luftwaffe camps. The German guards at those camps were usually older men who were not physically fit for front line combat duty. There were instances of sadistic guards, but these were an exception to the rule, unlike the SS concentration camps. We also notice RAD youth being used for guards. This may have been for work assignments outside the camps. The POW camps were separate from the SS-run concentration camp system. And while life in the POW camps was not pleasant and food was short, they were not death camps. There were differences in the camps, depending on nationality. The Germans mistreated and starved Polish and Soviet prisoners. I am not sure if the camps with Polish and Russian prisoners were run by the Wehrmact or the SS. We do not that some Allied POWs were housed next to Russian POWs. We also notice Soviet POWs being used as labor in SS-run camps, including the death camps. The Germans attempted to find Jewish POWs and wgen they did, they were transferred to SS concentration camps. Some problen prisoners may have also been turned over to the SS. Many French POWs were used for farm labor. We are not entirely sure how they were housed. American and British POWs were used in various ways, including cleaning up after air raids. We are not entirely sure who guarded them on these details, but believe the guards included Hitler Youth and RAD boys as well as military guards.
Our information about German POW guards and camps is incomplete. The individual Wehrmacht sevices were theoretically responsible for POW camps. Both the Heer and the Luftwaffe set up POW camps. We are unsure about the Kriegsmsrine. There would have been very Allied POWs taken by the Kreigsmarine. A lot of American and British POWs were held in Luftwaffe camps.
The German guards at those camps were usually older men who were not physically fit for front line combat duty. There were instances of sadistic guards, but these were an exception to the rule, unlike the SS concentration camps. We also notice RAD youth being used for guards. This may have been for work assignments outside the camps.
The POW camps were for the most part separate from the SS-run concentration camp system. There were exceptions. There were Pow camps at Auschwitz where French, Polish, and Russian POWs were held.
And while life in the POW camps was not pleasant and food was short, they were not death camps. <>br>
There were differences in the camps, depending on nationality. The Germans mistreated and starved Polish and Soviet prisoners. I am not sure if the camps with Polish and Russian prisoners were run by the Wehrmact or the SS. We do not that some Allied POWs were housed next to Russian POWs. We also notice Soviet POWs being used as labor in SS-run camps, including the death camps.
The Germans permitted the POWs themselves to run the camps. Each camp usually had an Senior Allied Officer (SAO) or Senior American Officer. This depended on the composition of the prisoners. The Germans separated the officers believing this would make it wasier to control the enlisted men. Stalags were the camps for the enlisted men which included noncommissioned officers. Oflags were the camps whuch held officers and some noncommissioned officers. At the stalags, the Germand had the men elect a 'man of confidence'. Some times they appointed him. Most camps had more than one compound. POWs were separated by uniform rather than citizenship. Thus Americans who who flew with the RAF were kept with the Britisdh, Compounds might hold American, French, British Commonwealth (Commonwealth servicemen were held together), Russian, and various other nationalities. Therte were camps for only one nationality, but some camps held a variety of nationalites.
Jews were among the POW taken by the Germans in their various campaigns. There were variation from country to country as to how the Germans treated the Jewish POWs. Oor information on German efforts in this regard is still limited. We note labor brigades formed from Polish Jewish POWs. One Jewish POW reports that he was in a group of Polish Jewisg POWs that were about go be gassed. He was among a few who were still heatlty that a A SS officer selected out from the group. Those selected were used as a slave labor unit in Aktion 1005. The Danish and Norwegian armies were very small. The Dnish Army was not interned. There would have been only a handful of Jews. The Dutch POWs were allowed to return home. We do not know if there was any attempt to select out Jews. The Belgian POWs were interned. Again we do not know about efforts to select out Jews. Nor do we know about the Fench Jewish POWs. There were very few British Jews so the Germans took few British Jewish POWs. Our information on Yugolav and Greek POWs is also limited. We know more about Red Armyb Jews after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Red Army Jews were basically subject to the Commisar degree. This authorized any Wehrmacht soldier to shoot any Jewish soldier after he surrendered. Some commanders shot anyone who looked Jewish. Other were more restrained in how they complied with the Commisar and other extermination orders. Even if not shot at the front, there were other selections to find elected groups such as Commisars, intelectuals, and Jews. Here the Germans do not seem to have been as meticulous as the NKVD when they selected the Poles to muder as part of the Katyn masacres. The Germans did not take many American POWs. A few were taken in North Africa and then air crews during the strategic bombing campaign. We note some reports from American soldiers taken during the Bulge campaign. German propaganda blamed Jewish monied interests for Ameican hostility toward Germany. Germans tried to separate Jewish POWs from the general POW population. When Jews did not identify themselves, some officers went thriughthe rabks and seoarated out anyone who looked Jewish. Dog tags could also be used to identify Jews. The Jewish POWs were then subjected to brutal slave labor and internment in SS concentration camps rather than POW camps.
Some problen prisoners may have also been turned over to the SS.
Many POWS wwee used for labor. This was true od the Poles and Russians. French POWs were used for farm labor. We are not entirely sure how they were housed. This was not the case of American and British POWs, but they were used in various ways, including cleaning up after air raids. We are not entirely sure who guarded them on these details, but believe the guards included Hitler Youth and RAD boys as well as military guards.
The Germans generally treated Allied POWs correctly. The major exceptions was when the POWs were captured. There were numerous examples of SS men shooting POWs. Another exception was Hitler's Commando Order (October 1942). He became enraged at reports of British comandos and demanded to know why there were not similar German opertations. Not all German offiers obeyed the order, but some did. Once at the German camps, treatment was generally correct.
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